I've always lived in a rural area. School was hell, that was/is a lot of damage to undo, but it wasn't because anyone was discriminating against my AS; it was because I was different. Even as an adult, even after I've learned to act like one of them I still can't hide my AS 100% so I'll get people who are apprehensive of me, mostly, and occasionally condescending. The condescending bit pisses me off, mostly because I don't know whether to confront them or start doing math problems to un**** their attitude.
To the very few people I have disclosed to, the personal relationship ends very quickly. Hell, I even offhandedly mentioned it to my stylist of three years while she was cutting my hair. The graceful and skillful dance that was her with a pair of scissors all of a sudden came to a screeching halt for a few seconds. She recovered, I guess, and kept going, but much more slowly; she stood as far away from me as she could while finishing up, and gone too was the chatter. Dead silence. I got the message and went elsewhere after that.
The way it was explained to me: people reject what falls outside their idea of "normal", as we are all keenly aware. However, "normal" is a spectrum itself, a spectrum that tends to be smaller in rural areas. In rural areas (at least the ones I've lived in), if you're a man you had better drive a lifted pickup with a "Calvin pissing" sticker in the window, wear full camo even when not hunting, drink cheap domestic beer but only of the brands advertised during football games, and I could go on but that particular spectrum of "normal" is like this: |---| Anything falling outside those boundaries is subject to scrutiny and judgment.
In contrast, I could probably walk down the street in San Francisco carrying a sign that says "I am married to a black woman" and not be hassled in any way, shape, or form (I use San Francisco as an example because it's generally accepted as the most socially progressive city in America). Their spectrum of "normal" is like this: |-----------------------------------------------------------------------|
So I guess I drifted a bit with the above example of my take on the issue as a whole, which isn't actually my opinion but was used to persuade me that I'd be better off in a big city - less likely to be singled out and possibly easier to maintain a social life since my world doesn't revolve around killing dumb animals with a high-powered rifle and calling it "sport". Then again, someone else who has the credibility to speak on such matters told me not to move to a city because my AS/depressive qualities will just make me isolate myself in the middle of millions of people, so I don't really know do I?
